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Licence activities

Non-remote 2005 Act casino operating licence

Fees for non-remote Casino 2005 Act operating licences have been based on annual gross gambling yield (GGY) rather than the type of premises licence.

A premises licence issued by a local licensing authority will however continue to authorise either a ‘small’ or a ‘large’ 2005 Act (opens in new tab) Casino premises.

Small casino premises

You can only run a small casino in the following local licensing authority areas, and each area can only have one casino:

A small casino under the 2005 Act (opens in new tab) has a minimum table gaming area of 500 square metres and a minimum non-gambling area of 250 square metres.

A small casino can have a maximum of 80 gaming machines from category B1 to D (but not category B3A), subject to a ratio of gaming machines to gaming tables which has been set at 2:1 (therefore, two gaming machines per gaming table up to a maximum of 80 machines).

You can offer any of the games listed in our types and rules of casino games at a small casino.

Large casino premises

You can only run a large casino in the following local licensing authority areas and each area can only have one casino:

A large casino under the 2005 Act (opens in new tab) has a minimum table gaming area of 1,000 square metres and a minimum non-gambling area of 500 square metres.

A large casino can have a maximum of 150 gaming machines from category B1 to D (but not category B3A), subject to a ratio of gaming machines to gaming tables which has been set at 5:1 (therefore, five gaming machines per gaming table, up to the maximum of 150 machines).

You can offer any of the games listed in our types and rules of casino games at a large casino.

Current application fees

Fee category Annual gross gambling yield Application Fee
A1 Less than £5.5 million £41,243
B1 £5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £27.5 million £41,243
C1 £27.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million £54,131
D1 £110 million or greater, up to but excluding £200 million £54,131
E1 £200 million or greater, up to but excluding £300 million £54,131
E2 £300 million or greater, up to but excluding £400 million £54,131
E3 £400 million or greater £54,131

Current annual fees

The first annual fee for a non-remote (2005 Act (opens in new tab)) casino licence is due six months after the licence is issued to you. Subsequent annual fees are due every year before the anniversary of the day your licence was issued.

The first annual fee (for the non-remote Casino 2005 Act operating licence only) will be reduced by 50 percent.

If your casino is not operational, then subsequent annual fees will be reduced by 50 percent.

We will consider your casino to have become operational twelve months before the planned opening date of the premises. So you must tell us the date you plan to start trading (this will be a condition of your licence, if granted).

You must also notify us three months prior to your annual fee due date to confirm whether your casino is operational so that the correct annual fee is charged. We will contact you in writing for this information.

If you have a combination of different kinds of licence, you will get a discount on your annual fee.

Fee category Annual gross gambling yield Annual Fee
A1 Less than £5.5 million £24,971
B1 £5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £27.5 million £39,606
C1 £27.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million £120,877
D1 £110 million or greater, up to but excluding £200 million £223,394
E1 £200 million or greater, up to but excluding £300 million £404,830
E2 £300 million or greater, up to but excluding £400 million £520,763
E3 £400 million or greater £658,763 plus £120,000 for each complete additional £150 million of annual gross gambling yield above £400 million

Ancillary activities

If you are applying for a non-remote casino operating licence but will also use remote communication for gaming on the same premises (such as remote communication equipment that is situated entirely on the set of premises on which the gaming takes place; for example, touch-bet roulette terminals that link to a roulette wheel on the same premises), then you will also need to apply for an ancillary remote licence.

With the exception of the previously stated restricted circumstances, any other provision of facilities for remote gambling will require a remote casino operating licence.

The ancillary licence does not authorise a remote link with gaming that takes place on another set of premises.

The remote casino operating licence will be required (instead of an ancillary licence), in addition to a non-remote casino operating licence if you intend to link terminals located in one casino premises to gaming that takes place in another set of premises (for example, touch-bet roulette terminals in one casino linked to a roulette wheel in another casino).

Furthermore, we do not consider that providing software to customers in licensed casino premises, which the customers download onto their own devices to participate in remote gambling, falls within the scope of the casino ancillary licence provided for by the Fees Regulations.

Ancillary remote application fee: £100
There is no annual fee for this ancillary licence

Related activities


Last updated: 1 December 2023

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